Haiti’s interim president Jocelerme Privert named Enex Jean-Charles as Prime Minister of a country undergoing political turmoil since January, according to AFP. Jean-Charles must submit his proposal for a new government to parliament, but his political fate hangs in the balance, as parliament must greenlight his package. Privert will not appoint additional cabinet members until parliament confirms the premier’s new vision.
According to the Organization of American States (OAS), Haiti may not settle a runoff dispute before the incumbent president’s term ends this weekend, as the Associated Press stated. Haiti scheduled a second runoff election in late January, but had to postpone the process due to violent protests. Haiti’s economy remains in tatters and has worsened since a large earthquake struck the Caribbean nation in 2010, killing tens of thousands of people.
The governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic have launched a joint project, backed by several international health groups, to eradicate cholera from their countries within the next ten years, reported the Associated Press on Thursday, after more than 8,000 people were killed by the disease ever since it surfaced in October 2010.
Haiti is a lower income economies coming under the Latin American and Caribbean region as to the classification made by the World Bank on the basis of income and region for the year 2006.
Initiatives undertaken by the international organizations such as International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Inter-American Development bank for raising private sector participation have only resulted partial success. Among various sectors, the services constitute the highest share followed by agriculture.
In looking at impoverished countries, Haiti is one of the poorest specific to per capita GDP in the Western Hemisphere. Currently, some 80% of the population of this country lives below the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. To survive, approximately 65% of all Haitians rely on agriculture, agrarian, fisheries, and farming sectors. For farming, the majority of these are smaller subsistence farms. The number one challenge that the people of Haiti have dealt with throughout time is the ongoing natural disasters.
